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ESL forum > Ask for help > Hangman    

Hangman



crazy_turtle
United Kingdom

Hangman
 
This week a mother complained about the game hangman because "it glorifies suicide" Crazy!!!!

So I started drawing a picture of a man floating over a shark infested pool with 8 balloons. Everytime they made a mistake I would rub a balloon out.....No complaints (yet) that it glorifies death by shark....

Anyway, does anyone else have any ideas on how to play this fun game without glorifiying violence???

Crazy Turtle

17 Jun 2009      





elderberrywine
Germany

Maybe you could start off with a drawing of a human body and for every mistake make one member disintegrate. That �s death, too, but death by disintegration .... LOL
Or draw a bunch of flowers and for every mistake wipe one out
Or draw a dozen smiling faces around one smiling face. For every mistake wipe one of the friends out ...
no matter what you do, it �s always cruel ... Confused

17 Jun 2009     



verybouncyperson
Spain

I �ve done the sharks version (but I drew a set of stairs and each time they get a letter wrong they go down a step) and with balloons - the man just fell out the sky!

Another way I �ve played is with points.  Start each team / individual with a certain number of points, perhaps 10, and if they choose a letter which isn �t there, take off a point.  But if they guess a letter correctly, they get a point for each time it appears.  The team that guesses the whole word gets a point for each remaining letter and if they guess they word but are incorrect, take off two points.


17 Jun 2009     



ants
Switzerland

Why not make them play in teams.  If they get the right letter, they win holidays ( you can play with country flashcards ) or you can teach any sort of vocabulary you like.
They could win houses, tv �s, cars, stickers, etc.
 
Just draw up a grid with the team names and spread out your cards and have a section for where you write your word....like you would with hangman...and write x spaces for a word.
Explain that they �re going to race to win as many things as they can but it �s like hangman...no mistakes with the letters to form the word...otherwise they win nothing.
 
I use my small MES flashcards and the teens and kids love it.Hug
My kids who guess the letters correctly....win stickers for their team mates!! That should stop any complaining from the parents.
 
Let me know if it �s a success or not....my kids love playing this game and it �s sometimes better than hangman...because you can develop it and get them to draw a card, say a sentence...hide something on the grid...so that the kids can try and win a prize. There are so many possiblities...it �s a question of what you want to teach them.
All the best and have fun!!Smile
Fiona.

17 Jun 2009     



sazzag
United Kingdom

My kids love it when i put a whole sentence on the board (it can be very simple).  I just write dashes for the letters.  You then number each word according to the number of letters eg

_ _ _   _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _   _ _   _ _ _  (The blue ball is big)
1 2 3   1 2 3 4  1 2  3  4   1 2   12 3
 
Then in teams they guess a letter.  For each time it occurs in the word they get the points under the letter and you write in the letters.  eg if I said "e" I get 7 points (3+4).  The second team says "t" and get 1 point.
 
Even if they know the sentence they are not allowed to say it but must use that to choose the letters which will give their team most points. 
 
The kids love it and I think it is great because it teaches them about usage of letters in English --eg that words usually end in "y" and not "i".  Also to think about the "s" on the end of words".
 
No death involved in this one!!!!
 
I do have a fabulous, big,  green crocodile that my friend made me and I use that with stepping stones to move some plastic girls down the board towards his mouth.  We give the girls names just to make it all the more gruesome.  Nobody has every complained and the kids love it. 

17 Jun 2009     



manuelanunes3
Portugal

Hi!
 
If the name of the game is "Hangman" (and it is a very old game) I don �t see why you should replace the name of the game by another name or invent anything else to satisfy a person that can not see the fun and the ultimate interest of it.
Complaints like that are nonsense and you shouldn �t pay attention to that...
I won �t even suggest another thing ...
 
Best wishes
and have fun with "Hangman"Tongue

17 Jun 2009     



Ivona
Serbia

sazzag, i love your idea! never knew that one about the numbers under the letters.
crazy_turtle, could you ask the parent in question if she allows her children to watch cartoons on cartoon network (full of violence), or films on tv ...

17 Jun 2009     



manuelanunes3
Portugal

Good point Ivona Tongue

17 Jun 2009     



verybouncyperson
Spain

Sazzag - what a great idea!!!

17 Jun 2009     



Jayho
Australia

The name of the game �hangman � is banned in many of our schools.  I still play it but I just call it a guessing game.  It �s a �no frills � version.

17 Jun 2009     



ants
Switzerland

I guess that parent is worried with everything that �s going on, especially on the internet.
I know some parents here are upset about young teens going onto certain sites.
I think you have to see it from a parent �s point of view too.
I always, as a private teacher, listen to parents...it does help avoid confrontations that are unnecessary.
 

17 Jun 2009     

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